Demountable acoustical ceiling



Sept. 11, 1962 J. E. STANLEY DEMOUNTABLE ACOUSTICAL CEILING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 21, 1960 Sept. 11, 1962 J. E. STANLEY 3,053,359

DEMOUNTABLE ACOUSTICAL CEILING Filed March 21. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jog 100 n in! W w H min,

I i y Unite Stte int 3,053,359 DEMOUNTABLE ACOUSTICAL CEILING John E. Stanley, Flintridge, Califi, assignor to Duo-Flex Corporation, Glendale, Califi, a corporation Filed Mar. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 16,299 8 Claims. (Cl. 189-85) This invention relates to acoustical ceilings of the type in which acoustical tiles are carried by a metal grid that includes primary support members of channel-shaped cross section.

One problem to which the invention is directed is to provide a ceiling surface that is composed entirely of acoustical tiles with no exposed portions whatsoever of the metal support structure. Such a ceiling has a desirably uniform appearance and, of course, such a ceiling provides maximum acoustical absorption.

Another problem is to provide such a ceiling that is of economical construction. The ceiling should be constructed for accurate installation Without requiring highly specialized skill.

A third problem which is important in some installations is to achieve vertical compactness in such a ceiling by installing the ceiling tiles at a level close to the level of the channel-shaped primary support members. This problem is easily met by exposing the primary support members as parts of the ceiling surface. The difliculties arise in attempts to conceal the primary support members.

A fourth problem is to provide an acoustical ceiling which makes it possible to install or remove wall partitions without disturbing the acoustical ceiling. It is contemplated that in the construction of a large building the acoustical ceiling will provide concealed primary support members aligned with all of the Window mullions so that wall partitions may be installed quickly and inexpensively in line with any selected mullions. Thus the invention achieves economies in making it possible to completely install a ceiling of large area before decisions are reached as to how the floor space is to be divided into rooms. It is further contemplated that a wall partition may be removed quickly and inexpensively whenever desired without the necessity of doing anything whatso ever to restore the acoustical ceiling.

The invention meets these problems, in part, by using relatively wide channel-shaped primary support members with rows of acoustical tiles mounted directly on the undersides of the primary support members. Thus the ceiling surface is provided by parallel rows of tiles mounted on the undersides of the parallel primary support members and alternate parallel rows of tiles in the spaces between the primary support members. The alternate rows of tiles are carried by secondary support members which in turn are carried by the primary support members.

:In one practice of the invention, the tiles that are mounted on the undersides of the channel-shaped primary support members are simply adhesively bonded to the support members. A feature of a second practice of the invention, however, is the concept of constructing the channel-shaped primary support members for sliding sup porting engagement of the tiles. For this purpose, the tiles that are to be mounted in a row in the underside of a primary support member are provided with kerfs in their edges and the primary support member is formed with flanges to engage the kerfs.

In one practice of the invention, the primary support members are interconnected by elongated transverse members. Since the transverse members interconnect the primary support members, they cooperate therewith to form a unified grid, and since they serve as spacers, they may be accurately dimensioned to predetermine the spacing of the primary support members. Thus the accuracy of HQQ the spacing of the primary support members does not depend on the ski-ll of the workers who install a ceiling.

The transverse spacers are connected directly to hangers that, in turn, are directly connected to the primary support members to suspend the primary support members from overhead building structure. In such an arrangement, the transverse members are only indirectly connected to the primary support members but nevertheless serve their purpose as effectively as if they were directly connected.

An important feature of this last practice of the invention is that the hangers are made in separable parts, each comprising a metal bar and two brackets that are removably mounted on the opposite ends of the bar. The two brackets are adapted for direct connection with the ends of corresponding transverse spacers. As will be explained, this construction makes the installation procedure flexible since the hangers may be assembled in advance or may be assembled in the course of the installation procedure.

When the acoustical ceiling is installed in an oflice building the primary support members are aligned with the window mullions. To install a wall partition in line with any selected window mullion, it is merely necessary to drill small holes through the acoustical tile and through the sheet metal of the selected primary support member to receive metal screws for anchoring the structure of the partitions. If at any time in the future it is decided to remove the wall partitions, it is a simple matter to do so. The sheet metal screws are removed and the small holes vacated by the sheet metal screws are not noticeable since they appear to be part of the original pattern of recesses in the acoustical ceiling.

The various features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description together with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, which are to be regarded as merely illustrative FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a ceiling embodying a selected practice of the invention, the view including a cross section of a primary support member;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view looking down on the installed ceiling from above;

FIG. 3 is an exploded View showing how a hanger may be assembled and engaged with a primary support member.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken as indicated by the line 44 of FIG. 2, the view showing how a secondary support member in the form of an inverted T-spline engages kcrfs in the adjacent edges of ceiling tiles;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing a ceiling embodying a second practice of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a primary support member and an associated pair of longitudinal members that engage longitudinal shoulders of the primary support members in this second embodiment, the longitudinal support members being shown elevated from their assembled positions;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the same ceiling structure on a reduced scale; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view indicating how the primary support member shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 may be fabricated by assembling separate pieces instead of being in the form of an extruded member.

The principal parts of the assembled ceiling structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 include: spaced parallel rows of acoustical tiles l0; alternate parallel rows of wider tiles 11, each of which has a kerf 12 in each of its four edges in a well-known manner; a plurality of parallel primary support member or panels 14 of the same width as the titles 10; a plurality of wires 15 for suspending the primary support members 14 from fixed over-head building structure; a corresponding plurality of hangers 16 which are attached to the lower ends of the wires in engagement with the primary support members 14; a plurality of elongated members 18 in the form of angles that span the spaces between the primary support members 14 and are connected at their opposite ends to the hangers 16; a plurality of secondary support members in the form of inverted T-splines 20 (FIG. 4) that are supported at their opposite ends by the primary support members 14 and, in turn, engage kerfs of the tiles 11 to support the tiles; and a plurality of flat splines 22 which also extend into the kerfs of the tiles 11 along the edges of the primary support members in the spaces between the successive T-splines 20.

Each of the primary support members 14 may be of the general configuration of a U-shaped channel with a pair of upwardly extending side webs 25 and with a bottom web 26. Each of the channel-shaped primary support members 14 is also formed with laterally extending longitudinal side flanges 28 at its opposite lower longitudinal edges which side flanges form upwardly facing longitudinal shoulders. Thus each of the primary support members has a bottom face 30 on its underside which includes portions of the two side flanges 28. Each of the channel-shaped primary support members 14 is further formed with inwardly and downwardly turned flanges 32 along the top edges of the side webs 25.

It is apparent that such a channel-shaped primary support member 14 may be formed in various ways, for example by assembling and interconnecting longitudinal elements or sections, or by extrusion in one piece. In the present embodiment of the invention, a channelshaped primary support member 14 is formed by bending or folding a single piece of sheet metal. In such a construction, the two side flanges 28 are of folded sheet metal to provide double thickness for strength.

Each of the hangers 16 may be of the construction shown in FIG. 3. Each hanger 16 comprises a horizontal metal bar or strap 36 and a pair of brackets 38 at the opposite ends of the bar, each of the two brackets being a formed thin metal bar or strap. The two brackets 38 have upper flanges 40 for overlapping relation with the ends of the bar 36 and are offset to form V-shaped grooves 42 to hook under the corresponding inwardly turned flanges 32 of a primary support member 14. Each of the brackets 38 is further formed with an inwardly turned bottom flange 44 to nest into the bottom of the associated primary support member 14.

The central bar 36 of a hanger 16 has a central aperture 45 and two end apertures 46. The central aperture 45 receives a vertically adjustable eye-screw 48 that is attached to the corresponding wire 15 and is equipped with a pair of nuts 50 to clamp against the opposite faces of the bar.

The upper flange 40 of each of the brackets 38 of the hanger assembly has an aperture 52 to register with the corresponding end aperture 46 of the central bar 36 to receive a screw 54, the screw being equipped with a nut 55 for securing the end bracket to the bar. In addition, the upper flange 40 of each bracket 38 has a second aperture 56 for connecting the hanger to one end of a previously mentioned elongated member 18. As best shown in FIG. 3, the end of the corresponding elongated member 18 is provided with an aperture 58 to register with the aperture 56 and a screw 60 provided with a nut 62 extends through the two apertures 56 and 58.

In the completed ceiling, the tiles 10 are bonded to the undersides 30 of the primary support members 14 by adhesive material, as indicated at 70 in FIG. 1, and the tiles 11 of the alternate rows are supported by the inverted T-splines 20. Each of the T-splines 20 rests on its opposite ends on a side flange 28 of a primary support member 14. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the T- splines 20 has opposite longitudinal flanges 64 and 65 4 along its bottom edge, which flanges extend into the kerfs 12 of adjacent tiles 11.

As may be seen in FIG. 4, each of the inverted T- splines 20 may be made in two sections, namely a section 20a which forms the flange 64 and a section 20b which forms the flange 65. The two sections 200 and 20b nest together with a top flange 66 of the section 20b resting on a top flange 68 of the section 20a. It is apparent that the section 20!) may be readily lifted away from the section 20a but normally fits tightly against the section 2% in a manner that precludes air flow between the two sections. Thus the two sections nest together to form an air seal at the juncture of the two adjacent tiles 11.

The manner in which this first embodiment of the invention serves its purpose may be readily understood from the foregoing description. In a typical procedure for installing the ceiling, the primary support members 14 are first supported from the wires 15 by means of the hangers 16 and the hangers are interconnected by the transverse spacer members 18. The hangers 16 may be preassembled and may be engaged with the primary support members 14 simply by sliding the hangers into the open ends of the primary support members. It is to be noted, however, that a hanger 16 may be assembled into engagement with a longitudinal support member instead of being introduced into an open end of the primary support member. Thus it is a simple matter to engage the two brackets 3., separately with the opposite inwardly turned flanges 42 of a primary support member and then to interconnect the two brackets by the bar 36 to complete the hanger. It is also apparent that, if desired, the corresponding transverse spacers 18 may, if desired, be connected to the brackets 18 before the hanger is completed by connecting the bar 36 with the two brackets.

With a unified ceiling grid completed by interconnecting the suspended primary support members 14 by the transverse spacers 18, it is a simple matter to install the rows of tiles 11 by means of the inverted T-splines 29. In installing a series of tiles 11 in sequence, a newly installed tile is supported at one end by a T-spline 20 that has both of its sections 20a and 20b assembled together. The other end of the newly installed tile, however, is supported by only a section 2011 of a T-spline, the second section 2% being absent. To install the next successive tile, the missing T-spline section 20b is engaged with the kerf of the new tile and then the new tile is maneuvered into position to assemble the missing T-spline section 20b to the T-spline section 20a. It is apparent that a row of tiles 11 may be quickly and easily installed in this manner.

The flat splines 22 serve to seal the kerfs that extend along the side edges of the primary support members 14. These flat splines 22 are simply inserted into the two opposite kerfs of a tile 11 before the tile is maneuvered into its assembled position. When the tile is in its assembled position, the two flat splines 22 on its opposite sides rest on the side flanges 28 of the corresponding primary support members 14. The installed flat splines 22 are in the same plane as the flanges 64 and 65 of the T-splines and occupy the spaces between the successive T-splines. Usually, but not necessarily, the narrower tiles 10 are installed last by using suitable adhesive material indicated at 78 in FIG. 1 to bond the tiles to the bottom faces 39 of the primary support members 14. I

In the second embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the primary support members 80 are extruded members but may be made of formed sheet metal or may be made in sections. Each primary support member 86 is of the usual channel-shaped configuration with a bottom web 82 and two upright side webs 84. Each of the side Webs 84 is formed along its upper edge with an overhanging flange 85 having a downwardly extending lip 86. In addition, each of the primary support members 80 is formed with an angular flange along each of its lower longitudinal edges. Each of the lower angular flanges has a laterally extending horizontal portion 88, a vertical downward portion 90 and an inwardly turned horizontal edge portion 92.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the primary support members 80 are attached by wire clips 94- to transverse overhead runners 95. The runners 95 are in turn supported by wires 96 which are adjustably connected to the runners by suitable eye-bolts and pairs of nuts 1 MB. The wire clips 94 are U-shaped members that are formed with hooks 102 to engage the upper flanges 85 of the primary support members 80 in the manner best shown in FIG. 6.

In this practice of the invention, rows of relatively wide tiles "1% having kerfs 105 are mounted between the successive primary support members 8! by means of secondary support members 106 that extend longitudinally of the primary support members. The secondary support members 1416 rest on the longitudinal shoulders that are formed by the horizontal portions 8 8 of the angular side flanges of the primary support members.

Each of the secondary support members 166 may be of the angular or Z-shaped cross-sectional configuration shown in FIG. 6. Thus each secondary support member has an upper laterally extending longitudinal flange 108 to rest on the longitudinal shoulder of the primary support member, a vertical web 116 to lie against the vertical portion 90 of the side flange of the primary support member and an opposite lower lateral flange 112 to engage the kerfs 165 of the tiles 194.

A feature of this particular embodiment of the invention is that each of the longitudinal shoulders of a primary support member 80 is formed with an upwardly directed projection in the form of a longitudinal rib 114 and each of the secondary support members 106 is formed with a complementary recess in the form of a longitudinal groove 1 for engagement by the rib. By virtue of this arrangement, each of the installed secondary support members is positively interlocked with the corresponding primary support member 80.

As indicated in FIG. 5, the joints between the successive tiles 104 in a row of the tiles may be sealed against air leakage by inverted T-splines 20. As heretofore described, each T-spline is made in two sections which nest together. In this instance, the inverted T-splines 21) do not actually serve as secondary support members in the same manner as members 20 in the FIGURE 1 embodiment because they are supported by the tiles 104- instead of serving to support the tiles. However the inverted T-splines 20 in FIGURE 5 do act as secondary support members by reason of the support they inherently provide for the tiles along the joint between successive tiles 104.

The ceiling is completed by rows of tiles 116 which are mounted directly on the primary support members 85. Each of the tiles 116 is formed with kerfs 118 in its opposite edges and these kerfs are engaged by the horizontal edge portions 92 of the angular flanges of a primary support member 85. The tiles 116 are assembled to a primary support member 30 by introducing the tiles at the open end of the primary support members and sliding the tiles into their final positions.

It is apparent that in both embodiments of the invention, the tiles may be readily demounted for access to the space above the installed ceiling. It is a simple matter to push upward on an installed tile and thus lift the corresponding section Zilb of a T-spline 20 from the complementary section Zita of the T-spline.

FIG. 8 illustrates the fact that a primary support member, such as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, may be fabricated by joining together a plurality of longitudinal members. In FIG. 8, for example, a simple channel member 120 has upwardly turned flanges 122 to which extruded side members 124, respectively, are attached by suitable means, such as spot welds 125. The finished primary support member 88a in FIG. 8 provides the same elements as the primary support member in FIG. 6, corresponding elements being designated by cor-responding reference numerals.

My description in specific detail of the selected embodiments of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an acoustical ceiling construction suspended from overhead building structure, the combination of: a plurality of acoustical tiles arranged in spaced parallel rows with their bottom faces in a common plane to form portions of a ceiling surface, said tiles having kerfs in their edges; a series of primary support members parallel to said rows and extending into the spaces between the rows, each of said primary support members having laterally extending longitudinal flanges on its opposite sides and having a bottom face spaced above said plane, each of said primary support members having two upwardly extending side webs formed with lateral edge flanges; hanger means connected to the overhead building structure and each engaging said two edge flanges for suspension of the primary support members; a plurality of elongated members above the level of said acoustical tiles and above the level of said side flanges perpendicular to said primary support members and spanning the spaces between the primary support members, each of said elongated members being connected at its opposite ends to two of said hanger means that are associated, respectively, with two successive primary support members whereby the elongated members serve as spacers between the primary support members and cooperate with the hanger means and the primary support members to form a ceiling grid; secondary support members in the form of inverted T- splines perpendicular to said primary support members and resting on said side flanges in engagement with said kerfs to support said acoustical tiles; barrier means extending along and overlapping the juncture between said acoustical tiles and said primary support members-to provide a barrier against air flow between the tiles and the primary support members and offer support for the edges of the tiles, and additional acoustical tiles substantially coextensive with the width of said primary support members and mounted on said bottom faces of said primary support members with their undersides in said plane to complete the ceiling surface.

2. In an acoustical ceiling construction suspended from overhead building structure, the combination of: a plurality of acoustical tiles arranged in spaced parallel rows with their bottom faces in a common plane to form portions of a ceiling surface, said tiles having kerfs in their edges; a series of primary support members parallel to said rows and extending into the spaces between the rows, each of said primary support members having a bottom face spaced above said plane, each of said primary support members having angular flanges on its two opposite lower longitudinal edges, each of said flanges forming a longitudinal upwardly facing support shoulder along the primary support member, each of said longitudinal flanges having a portion that extends downward from said shoul-' der below the bottom face of the primary support member and that is formed with an inwardly turned edge portion; a plurality of longitudinal secondary support members extending along said longitudinal shoulders, respectively, and resting on the shoulders, each of said secondary support members having a downwardly extending web to lie against the downwardly extending portion of the corre-' sponding side flange below said shoulder of the corresponding primary support member and being formed with an outwardly extending flange at the lower edge of said web to engage the kerfs of said rows of tiles to support the rows of tiles; and additional rows of tiles extending along the undersides of said primary support members, said additional rows of tiles having kerfs engaged by said inwardly turned edge portions of the angular flange of the primary support members for support of the additional rows of tiles.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 in which each of said longitudinal shoulders is formed with an upwardly extending longitudinally rib along its outer edge; and in which each of said longitudinal members is formed with a downwardly facing longitudinal groove to engage said rib.

4. In an acoustical ceiling construction suspended from overhead building structure, the combination of: a series of spaced parallel primary support members of formed sheet material having bottom faces in a first horizontal plane; secondary support members spanning the spaces between said primary support members with their opposite ends resting on the primary support members; spacer members spanning said spaces and interconnecting said primary support members above the level of said secondary support members; acoustical tiles arranged in rows parallel with said primary support members and occupying the spaces between the primary support members, said tiles having kerfs in supporting engagement with said secondary support members with the bottom faces of the tiles in a second horizontal plane at a given distance below said first horizontal plane; barrier means extending along and overlapping the juncture between said acoustical tiles and said primary support members to provide a barrier against air flow between the tiles and the primary support members and offer support for the edges of the tiles, and additional acoustical tiles mounted on the bottom faces of said primary support members, said additional tiles being substantially coextensive with the width of said primary support members and being of a thickness substantially equal to said given distance to place the bottom faces of the additional tiles in said second horizontal plane to cooperate with the first mentioned tiles to provides a substantially continuous ceiling surface at said second plane with said primary support members and secondary support members concealed above said ceiling surface.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 4 in which said additional tiles are adhesively bonded to the bottom faces of the primary support members.

6. In an acoustical ceiling construction suspended from overhead building structure, the combination of: two spaced parallel primary support members each having upwardly facing longitudinal shoulders on its opposite sides and a vertical upwardly extending web at the laterally inner edge of each of said longitudinal shoulders, each said web having a configuration at its upper end above the plane of said longitudinal shoulders to be engaged in connection of said primary support member to the overhead building structure; a row of acoustical tiles spanning the space between the two primary support members, each of said tiles having kerfs in its opposite edges; two secondary support members for supporting said tiles at said opposite edges, each of said secondary support members having a first lateral portion engaging a kerf at one of said opposite edges and a second lateral portion spaced from said first lateral portion, said lateral portions on each secondary support member extending longitudinally of the corresponding primary support member with said second lateral portion resting on the adjacent lon tudinal shoulder of such corresponding primary support member.

7. In an acoustical ceiling construction suspended from overhead building structure, the combination of: two spaced parallel primary support members each having an upwardly facing longitudinal shoulder formed along each of its sides and a vertical upwardly extending web at the laterally inner edge of each of said longitudinal shoulders, each said web being formed at its upper end above the plane of said longitudinal shoulders to be engaged in connection of said primary support member to the overhead building structure; a row of acoustical tiles spanning the space between the two primary support members, each of said tiles having kerfs in its opposite edges; and a secondary support member extending along one side of each of said primary support members longitudinally thereof adjacent said row of tiles, each secondary support member having a downwardly facing shoulder engaging the adjacent upwardly facing longitudinal shoulder of the corresponding primary support member, one of said engaged shoulders being formed with a projection and the other of said engaged shoulders being formed with arerecess to receive the projection for interlocking the secondary support member with the primary support member, each of said secondary support members extending downward along the side of the corresponding primary support member and having a lateral longitudinal flange at its lower edge engaging the kerfs of said tiles to support the tiles.

8. In an acoustical ceiling construction suspended from overhead building structure, the combination of: a series of spaced parallel elongated primary support members of formed material having bottom faces in a first horizontal plane; elongated secondary support members spanning the spaces between said primary support members with their opposite ends adjacent the longitudinal lateral edges of the primary support members; spacer members spanning said spaces and interconnecting said primary support members above the level of said secondary support members; acoustical tiles arranged in rows parallel with said primary support members and occupying the spaces between the primary support members, said tiles having kerfs in supporting engagement with said secondary support members with the bottom faces of the tiles in a second horizontal plane at a given distance below said first horizontal plane; barrier means extending along and overlapping the junction between said acoustical tiles and said primary support members to provide a barrier against air flow between the tiles and the primary support members and offer support for the edges of the tiles, and additional acoustical tiles mounted on the bottom faces of said primary support members, said additional tiles being substantially coextensive with the width of said primary support members and being of a thickness to place the bottom faces of the additional tiles in said second horizontal plane to cooperate with the first mentioned tiles to provide a substantially continuous ceiling surface at said second plane with said primary support members and secondary support members concealed above said ceiling surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 714,948 Rader Dec. 2, 1902 1,984,028 MacLeod Dec. 11, 1934 2,139,641 Neumeister Dec. 6, 1938 2,648,102 Jacobson Aug. 11, 1953 2,667,667 Jacobson Feb. 2, 1954 2,742,122 Stanley Apr. 17, 1956 2,767,815 Brandstetter et al Oct. 23, 1956 2,894,291 Sorenson July 14, 1959 2,994,113 Dail Aug. 1, 1961 

